Lex Gets a Present

Tack of the Day is going to kill me.

Here's a deal that I couldn't pass up: this Equifit T-form contoured pad. In honor of her recent back soreness and moving onwards together with riding soon, I went ahead and got her this given that it was more than 50% off. Go get you some.

Drooooooool.

She's got TB withers. Whatcha gonna do?

60 Equestrian Questions

Because why not? We're in the middle of Tropical Storm Andrea and I'm low on horse news, finally. Lex seemed better today, although she broke her halter, the silly girl. She also insisted on standing around with her head out the window, getting soaked. Ah, well. The vet said it's okay and won't hurt her eye.

Without further ado, here are the questions from Eventing in Color.

1. dish face or roman nose? why?
Who cares? You can't ride the face!

2. mares or geldings? why?
MARES. I mean, I've had some geldings I love, and I would own a gelding again, but I am a mare person all the way. I feel like my mares have tried harder for me. Plus I own the SuperMare and the WonderFilly now!

3. Do you think warmbloods are over-rated?
Well, that's not how I'd put it. I had a warmblood I loved and I'd have another one. Wait, do I have one? Is Rocket the Mutt technically a warmblood? But I really love OTTBs and I think they're under-rated. I'd love to see US equestrian get back to its roots.

4. Describe your dream horse.
Sweet, brilliant, excellent scope, a will to win, good mover, sound. I think I might have my dream horse now - we'll see! :)

5. What kind of bit do you use and why?
Right now, Lex is going in a loose ring French link, because it's my favorite for starting OTTBs in their retraining. It's kind and communicative. I've used all kinds of bits, though. I think educated hands are more important than the bit itself, though the wrong bit can create problems. Rocket, obviously, is too young for a bit. I'll probably start her in a loose ring, too, though I doubt Lex's will fit her.

6. Stock horses or sport horses?
Sport horses, but that's mostly because of the discipline I'm in. Stock horses are great, too.

7. Favorite horse color?
Oh, who can pick just one? A beautiful, healthy, shiny horse is always a sight to see.

8. Least favorite horse color?
I guess I wouldn't want to own a grey or a cremollo because of the cleaning/sunburn/cancer issues. That doesn't mean I don't think they're beautiful, though.

9. Dressage or Jumping?
JUMPING omg.

10. Favorite stock horse breed?
Who doesn't love a good old quarter horse?

11. Favorite Hot-blooded breed?
Thoroughbreds, duh.

12. Favorite cold-blooded breed?
I have a soft spot for Percherons.

13. Dapple grey or Fleabitten grey?
Dapple, but they turn fleabitten a lot of the time, so...

14. Most expensive piece of tack you own?
Well, my saddle is the thing I can least afford to replace, though I'm not sure what its market value is now. I love it though, it's a 16 year old Crosby Prix de Nations.

15. When did you start riding?
When I was four I started taking lessons. Mom had me on a horse about as soon as I could hold myself in a sitting position, I think. Thanks, Mom!

16. Leather or Nylon halters?
Leather. Always, always leather.

17. Apples or Carrots?
For me or the horse? I'd prefer apples, Lex wants carrots.

18. Chestnut or bay?
Nope. Not taking sides.

19. Palomino or Buckskin?
See above.

20. Lazy horse or Hot horse?
Hot! I hatehatehate kicking!

21. Have you ever been trail riding?
Many, many times, though not on Lex yet.

22. Have you ever had to put down a horse that you loved?
Too many.

23. How many saddlepads do you have?
I'm a saddle pad junkie. I probably have 10 at least.

24. How many bridles do you have?
Ummmm... 3? Plus some spare parts? But at the moment I'm only using one of them. I have a white leather horse-sized bridle with a flash for sale if anyone wants it.

25. Favorite saddle brand?
I haven't tried that many different brands. I love my Crosby though.

26. Beige or White Breeches?
Beige. Does anyone like white breeches?



27. Least favorite discipline?
That I've ridden in or that exists? When I was a kid in 4H I did a bunch of Western stuff that just wasn't really my thing. But as far as disciplines that exist, I don't like anything that's mean to the horses. That can happen in any discipline. I guess I'd be least interested in trying driving but I don't think it's cruel. Just not my thing.

28. Do you own a horse?
Yup! Two, and they're the best girls ever.

29. Do you collect breyer horses?
Not since I was a kid, though I have a pretty big collection at my mom's house still. I do have an Afleet Alex Breyer horse though, because he's Lex's daddy.

30. Favorite color of saddle pad?
Oh jeez, whatever is clean, right? I always appreciate a sparkling white pad. Lex looks good in colors without a lot of red in them. My colors are navy, grey, and white, so I'll take any saddle pad in any combination of those colors.

31.Private barn or Boarding stable?
I'm at a boarding stable right now, but mostly have had my horses at private barns. It's a tossup. Private barns means you can never go on vacation, boarding means you have to live under someone else's rules. Private means you can take care of everything just as you like, boarding means there are people around more often - which, in itself, can be a good thing or a bad thing!

32. Opinion on spoiled riders?
Whatevs. I just don't like giving them lessons.

33. Have you ever ridden tackless?
Oh, sure, as a kid. Pickles, the best pony ever, was my mount of choice for tackless riding. He was awesome.

34. Have you ever stood up on a horse?
No, and I must confess that I don't understand why this is some peoples' goal, but to each their own!

35. Overo, Tobiano, or Tovero?
Again, I am Sweden when it comes to horse colors.

36. Favorite face markings(s)?
I don't think I've ever seen a face marking I didn't like. I'm a fan of Duchess's beautiful blaze though. And there's an adorable foal at the lesson barn named Ichabod who wears his first initial on his face with a star and a strip.

37. Why you started riding?
You know, I don't know. It's all I've ever wanted, since before I was conscious of it.

38. Does anyone in your family ride?
My mom does, which is such a great thing, because she has definitely always supported me in my riding and horse obsession.

39. Have you ever owned a horse?
Many! I have Lex and Rocket now. Before them there was Faust, Flo, Ink, and Pickles, who were all mine. My family also had/has Tucker, Oliver, Grayson, Billy, TJ, Somara. I'm a lucky kid.


40. Something you want to improve on?
Right now I really want to get my eye for jumps and distances back.

41. A bad habit you have?
Turning my head too much to the inside - if I can fix this, it'll help with #40.

42. A bad habit your horse has?
Getting injured!

43. How high have you jumped?
4'6" when I worked at the h/j farm. Loved it. Gotta get back up there!

44. Have you ever had a dressage lesson?
Zillions. Recently, even.

45. What really makes your horse spook?
Lex hasn't spooked at anything yet. Not sure Rocket has, either. They're two level-headed horses, although I'm sure we'll encounter some kind of dragon eventually.

46. Trail riding or ring work?
Ring work. I'm kind of a workaholic.

47. Indoor or Outdoor arena?
Outdoor, though indoors have their place. I haven't ridden in one in awhile because no one in Florida has one.

48. Colorful or plain saddle pads?
For home or shows? At shows, I like plain. At home, though, have fun.

49. Do you like horses with blue eyes?
Sure!

50. Have you ever gotten into a fight with your trainer?
Not my current trainer. I can't remember if I've gotten in a fight with a previous one. If I did, it was probably because I was an anxious teenager and cried pretty easily and I had a couple trainers who were frustrated by that.

51. Light bay or Dark bay horses?
Gawd, stop trying to make me choose sides!

52. What is your equestrian dream?
I want to ride in a Grand Prix. Don't tell my mom.

53. Long mane or Pulled mane?
Pulled.

54. Opinion on fake tails?
I mean, it's whatever. I understand that they make the horse look more balanced, and Lex has the thinnest tail evar. I guess if someone gave or loaned me one to use at a show, and we were going to be in the hunter ring, I'd try it. I can't afford stuff like that, and I'm wary of the rabbit hole of buying just this one more thing that will really polish the look etc. I'm not made of money.

55. Least favorite thing about your barn?
Well, I'm brand new to the barn so we're still in a honeymoon stage. I guess I'd say I don't love the hay they feed - it's coastal hay, and I wish we had orchard grass or timothy instead.

56. Favorite thing about your barn?
At the moment, it's the lovely people who work there.

57. Have you ever ridden a stallion?
Yup! I showed an OTTB stallion named Marty on the HITS circuit. He was awesome, won everything and never gave me a moment's trouble. I think his owner only gelded him a few years ago.

58. socks or no socks on a horse?
I think socks are pretty, but I live in a climate where horses with white legs get scratches and take a lot of maintenance, so I could go either way.

59. Favorite horse names?
I like my girls' names (Afleet Alexia and Gravity's Rainbow). Faust was Comic Relief, which suited him to a T. There are more good horse names out there than I could possibly list, but in my mind, this is the definitive guide to naming a horse.

60. If you could ride any horse in the world, which one would it be? why?
I would ride Touch of Class, because she was a tiny, hot, OTTB mare who won Olympic gold. Blogger is being stupid about putting in videos, but you can see her brilliance here - she's the second horse.

Real Life is on the Horizon

A quick, photo-free post:

LEX'S EYE IS GETTING BETTER!!!!!!!!!

I am so happy right now.

The vet came out and said the ulcer healed, so now we're down to treating the weird shadowy thing, which is getting better. She's staying on Atropin (the medication that dilates her eye) for another week, and gets the other stuff too but only once a day. My baby ponynose isn't going to be blind and she isn't in terrible pain anymore. I don't know what I'm going to do with myself now that I don't have to spend hours in the car every day. Tonight I'm just going to chill out but tomorrow I'm going to try to get back into some kind of routine involving writing my dissertation and, you know, riding horses.

Ahhhhhhh.

Is This the Apocalypse?

That's a semi-serious question. At 6:30 this morning, when I was taking the dogs out, we got attacked by a bird. Just a regular bird. I don't know, y'all. I think I should have taken that as a sign to get back in bed and catch up on Mad Men. Then I came back in and found that one of my stupid cats had pulled one of my half-chaps off the rack and peed on it.

Lex was a good girl this morning. I did end up giving her a bath, because she was so sticky and gross that all the flies and gnats were swarming all over her. Despite her mild protests over the water touching her precious hide, I think she felt better when it was over, if the huge sigh was any indication. She just stood in front of her fan and let it cool her off. It certainly made me feel good, at any rate. Spending time with her this morning was, without question, the highlight of my day.

In the afternoon when I was giving lessons, the skies opened up in a classic Florida deluge. The students wanted to keep riding, which is fine, but about 30 minutes later the thunder and lightning rolled in, so they had to get off the ponies and head for cover. By that time, though, I was soaked to the bone. My fingers were pruny like they are when you stay in the bath too long. Then I had to hop immediately in the car and drive over to Lex's farm to put the goo in her eye and give her banamine. I figured the banamine was probably the most important thing, because (thanks to the WONDERFUL girl who works there on Tuesdays) she'd had the goo three times already. But I couldn't handle the idea of her being in pain all night just because I was soaked and it was raining.

I'm glad I went, but the roads were treacherous for my little car. My hands were shaking by the time I got to the barn, which was empty of humans. I gave Lex her medicines, checked her water buckets, gave her a good hug, and skedaddled. I had to get back out before the roads flooded beyond my car's capacity to travel. PS: I need a truck. I left her in for the night, because the thunderstorms were horrendous and she looked so happy, warm, and dry in her stall (and clean!). I'll just try to fit in a good long handwalk tomorrow and maybe she can get some time in one of the paddocks that's empty during the day. If not, it won't be the first or last time she's had to hang out in a stall this long. She WAS a racehorse, after all, and I figured it might not be good for her eye to be in a deluge - one which is ongoing, by the way. I just hope the roads are dried out enough by morning that I can make it back out again. But, you know, hell or high water. The vet's coming out tomorrow so maybe she'll tell me we can downshift the treatments.

In happier news, Mom sent me two new Rocket pictures!

This is Rocket and Ink, my 31-year-old QH cross. I love this shot.

He's old enough to be her great-great-great-great-great grandpa!

TALL ENOUGH TO GET HER HEAD OVER THE FENCE?!?!?!

She has grown SO MUCH. I love that amazing curly mane. I'm glad my mom is enjoying her and/but I can't wait for her to be old enough and for me to have enough money that I can have her around all the time.

Lex's New Hat

Thank you all so much for your kind comments on my last post. I really did feel like I was nearing the end of my rapidly-fraying rope. Despite the fact that I've had at least three crying jags today, I'm actually feeling a bit better. Mostly I think the crying is because I need to get more sleep, but I also hate it that she's been in pain for 1/3 of the time I've had her. That said, seems to be in slightly better spirits today, and is definitely more settled in. I think she's learning the routine (in during the day, out at night) and she likes her new fan!

My former barn owner, who I still work for and adore, gave me an optho mask to help protect her eye better while it's healing. I am SO grateful, and Lex is probably more comfortable in this than she was in the fly mask with a sweatshirt sewn in (and I'm leaving it that way, in case another horse needs it and we don't have an optho mask handy). I think it kinda looks like a racehorse mask.

If she can eat grass in it, she'll wear it.

She's half a bug.

She desperately needs a bath, but now's not the time. I'm gonna wait until her eye is less painful before I start torturing her with water, which she thinks is acid.

Things don't feel normal. I don't groom my horse, or clean my tack, or go for rides. I just want to get in a routine. I love getting to see her so much every day, I really do, but I'm also looking forward to feeling like it's okay if I only see her once a day because she's fine and in a good place, and if that once a day includes some grooming and saddle time and a happy horse, that would be ideal. I really like the new barn, it has lots of great people who have been so sweet and helpful with Lex.

Aaaaaand even though it isn't even 9:30 yet, I'm going to sleep.

AAAAAUGH

My poor baby horse, you guys. I scrambled back to the barn wayyyy before the morning feeder got there and could tell that there was something wrong with Lex's eye. I brought her in, called the vet, and long story short, she got hit in the eye by something. She's got a shallow corneal ulcer and also some other injuries to it, all of which we're treating. The vet bill was basically a million dollars, but it's her EYE. There's no price on that.

Lex is hurting a lot. She has to wear a fly mask with an eye patch, too, which is hot. This morning after the vet left I just put a bunch of duct tape on the inside of it to shield her eye from the sunlight (one of the medications she gets dilates her pupil), but that just trapped the heat all day, so that side of her face was super sweaty when I got back out this evening. I got her a box fan this evening, so she can at least stand in front of that tomorrow, and I spent forever sewing in a cover on the fly mask that should be at least somewhat more breathable than duct tape. I didn't finish it, actually, so some of it is still duct tape. I'll get it done tomorrow. At least she's mostly outside in the dark.

I just don't have it in me to write a lot right now, or to craft interesting paragraphs. It's been a shitty day. I also got in a car accident (some asshole stopped on the road and backed up and slammed into me, despite the fact that I was laying on my horn) but that's the least of my problems. I'm fine, my car's fine, and that guy is lucky he wasn't picking up his teeth with broken fingers, given that I was on my way to get Lex some more medicine.

I just want Lex to feel better. She hurts, she's confused, and there's so little I can do except treat her eye four (4) times a day (and the barn's not exactly next door). I was telling my mom all of this and she reminded me that if I hadn't bought Lex, she'd be dead by now, which just made me cry harder.

Tips for sanity maintenance? I just want my happy, healthy horse back, please.

Moving Day!

First, I am so tired that I could throw up.

Moving day was today. I got up at 6:30 because I couldn't sleep anymore, and puttered around the house until 9 when I decided to say "screw it" and went to the lesson barn, where I was meeting Regina to lead her to Lex, a little early. I pestered the farm assistants and snuggled with horses until Regina arrived. She hitched up, and off we went. I was super, super anxious. Anxiety is a major issue with me, and pretty much the only time I'm totally free of it is when I'm actually on a horse.

When we arrived, the girl who fed the horses had left both Lex and Duchess up for us. Why Duchess too? Well. Last night, Kris had told me that if I ever wanted to do anything with Duchess - like take her anywhere or use her for anything - that I could do it. So just before we left the lesson barn this morning, I mentioned to Regina that she might want to look at another horse while we were there. So I pulled Duchess out for her and explained about how she's the best horse in the world, and that I thought it was worth seeing if she might be able to earn her living by doing some light lessons at Haile. Regina was game, so I called the barn owner to confirm that it was okay, and she said, "YES OH MY GOD TAKE HER," basically.

So it turned out to be twice the moving day it would have been otherwise, which definitely contributes to the aforementioned exhaustion. I was really happy to get to bring Duchess, because I'll get to see her every day now and keep a very close eye on her, and the horses at the lesson barn are cared for beautifully. We dropped Duchess off first. I felt bad because I couldn't stay with her long, but we made sure she was in a nice paddock with water and hay and that the farm assistants would look after her.

Then we zoomed up the road to take Lex to the boarding barn. When we got there, the poor baby was totally drenched in sweat, so we took her right to the wash stall for a shower. She was afraid to go into it - she was shaking - but with some gentle coaxing, she did go in. I held her while Regina gently sprayed her off and scraped her, and then we got her settled in her stall with a huge pile of hay and some water. She went right to work on that, which was great.

The pony approves of the service at this establishment.

I let her relax for awhile while I unloaded all our stuff and set up our little spot in the tack room (and it's little! I'll have to figure out how to stash all my stuff more efficiently). Then we went for a little hand walk and she got to check out the sights, including the ring, which she rolled in. I didn't realize what was happening until she was down, and then I had a brief "is she colicking?!" moment, but no - it just felt good.

They make grass here, too!

Once she was back in her stall and munching hay (I stayed to watch her for awhile, and she kept coming to check on me, like "Are YOU okay?" which I took as my cue to leave) I went home to let my poor dogs out and eat.

No, seriously, Mom. You can go.

I tried to take a nap, but that wasn't happening - too anxious about my girls settling in. So before too long I went back to the lesson barn, and checked on Duchess, who was doing just great, sniffing the other horses over the fence and generally being her usual adorable self. I gave her a bath and let her hand-graze for awhile, and she was perfect. I love that girl.

Post-shower Duchie!

Back to the boarding farm! Unfortunately, it's much farther from where I live than where she was, but I think I'll feel like I don't need to check on her every second of the day - eventually - so that will be good. The good news is, the lesson farm and the boarding farm are both in the same direction from my house, so at least I'm mostly only heading west.

She seemed a little anxious when I got there, but I fed her and she ate up all her grain. I'd have liked for her to have consumed more water, but what can you do. We tried putting her in one paddock with two geldings, and she did great with the first one, but the second one was tormenting her. Both the geldings' owners were standing next to me, so I asked if the boys had back shoes, and they both did. I was like, "WELL, that will never do," so I pulled her out of there and we put her in a paddock with one mare and one gelding, and that was much more peaceful.

All is well, I think, except that when I was leaving I stopped to check on her and her right eye was kinda swollen and runny. I couldn't see any problems with it, so I'll check on her in the morning and see what she looks like. If it's still bad, I'll call the vet. I just really hope it's nothing, because if I moved her to a place where I thought she'd be safe and she hurt herself somehow, or another horse hurt her, I will never get over it, heh. I'm such a worrier with her, and I don't want to stay up all night worrying that she's going to be blind in that eye. She'll be FINE. She probably just got some hay in it.

I'm glad to have this day over. I was talking to my mom on the phone on the way home from the barn, and I was almost in tears because I was so tired and hungry and worried about Lex's eye. Mom pointed out that I've had a WHOLE LOT of change in my life in the past couple months, starting with buying a horse nine weeks ago out of the blue, and I just need to get settled so I can relax.

I never used to worry about my horses this much. I did not freak out when they were injured or spend all my time getting myself concerned that they were going to be disabled for life or feel like I had to check on them constantly. I'm not sure what switch got flipped in my head, but I need to un-flip it. My BFF said today that my worrying about Lex is taking all the fun out of owning her, which is entirely true. It's probably annoying the hell out of him, too, because he has to listen to me all the time!

Deep breaths. I'll go check on her tomorrow, see that her eye is fine and she's happy, and then go ride Duchess and introduce her to the lesson ring. It'll be great fun.